The Clinical Conduct of Interpersonal Psychotherapy

Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is a well-researched psychotherapy that has only recently begun to spread into clinical use. A manual-based, diagnosis-targeted, time-limited treatment, IPT has demonstrated efficacy as a treatment for mood and eating disorders and shows promise for other disorders. This article focuses on clinical aspects of IPT rather than its supporting empirical research base. It describes basic principles of IPT and of time-limited psychotherapies in general.